Posted By: Editor
July 13, 2023
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
NEW ALBUM: ‘EXCUSE ME WHILE I VANISH’
OUT 28 JULY VIA CHRYSALIS RECORDS
LISTEN TO NEW TRACK:
“THE BRUISES”
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
CONFIRM NATIONWIDE IN-STORES FOR JULY/AUGUST
+ UK HEADLINE TOUR FOR OCTOBER
William The Conqueror have unveiled the video to their new single “The Bruises”.
Taken from their forthcoming album ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’, out 28th July on Chrysalis Records, the track is the follow-up to last month’s single “The Puppet and the Puppeteer”.
“My favourite kind of songwriting is when you have no control over what’s happening” explains frontman Ruarri. “The song just arrives, finding its way through your fingers onto the fret board, as the pen wanders the page and somehow says everything you didn’t realise you needed to say. “The Bruises” was like that. It wasn’t and then all of a sudden, it was.” Bassist Naomi adds, “”The Bruises” will stay with you all day. And with a verse that catchy, you don’t really need a chorus. Which is lucky.”
Produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Kasabian), the ten tracks on ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ marry earworm tunes with insistent, imperious, soaring rock shapes, punctuated by chorus hooks that are simultaneously nuanced and anthemic. William The Conqueror, who performed to a packed room at The Great Escape last month, head out on a European tour with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats next week. The band will embark on a headline tour of the UK in October. See full details below.
NATIONWIDE INSTORE APPEARANCES:
Fri 28th July (album release day) Music’s Not Dead Bexhill-On-Sea
Sat 29th July Sound Knowledge Marlborough
Sun 30th July Rough Trade Bristol
Mon 31st July Banquet Kingston
Tues 1st August Truck Oxford
Weds 2nd August Pie & Vinyl Portsmouth
Thurs 3rd August Rough Trade East London
Sat 5th August Black Circle Records Leighton Buzzard
‘Excuse Me While I Vanish‘, very nearly didn’t happen. Following the imposition of lockdown restrictions, Joseph found himself cocooned at home in Cornwall, ruminating on an uncertain creative future, watching on as his wife Mandy, a valiant mental health social worker, engaged with the all-too-real dilemmas of the pandemic-riven here and now. Her example motivated Joseph to become a temporary care worker, an experience which would provide renewed focus and influence the songwriting on the new album.
“My wife was insomniac for the first six months of lockdown, which made it impossible for me to moan or grieve the fact that everything I’d been working on for the last five years had come to a standstill. It was a much-needed perspective and made me realise what a selfish undertaking William had been – navel-gazing with my head in the clouds when what people needed was boots firmly on the ground, preferably on the feet of someone like Mandy.”
William The Conqueror‘s fourth album finds the indie-rock trio firing on all cylinders as Joseph confronts the thin line between creativity and madness, inspired by compassion for the real-life angels of the world. Ruarri’s compelling semi-spoken vocals and swamp-blues-Seattle-scuzz guitars are propelled by the rhythm section of Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) as ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ delivers an effortlessly winning blend of melody and ensemble dynamics, the most accomplished and undeniable William The Conqueror album to date.
William The Conqueror Live:
July
20th – 23rd Southwold Latitude Festival
October
Fri 6th Falmouth Princess Pavilion
Tue 10th Exeter Cavern Club
Weds 11th Brighton Green Door Store
Fri 13th London Lower Third
Sat 14th Bedford Esquires
Sun 15th Sheffield Yellow Arch Studios
Tue 17th Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s
Weds 18th Newcastle Cluny 2
Thu 19th Manchester Deaf Institute
Sun 22nd Birmingham Hare and Hounds
